Category Archives: Subaru Sales

A parts shortage triggered by two natural disasters on the same day last March in Japan failed to prevent Subaru of America Inc. from setting a new sales record in 2011.

Selling 266,989 vehicles last year allowed the company to post sales records in each of the past three years, with a 1.2 percent increase over 2010.

“We are thrilled to close 2011 with a third consecutive sales record for Subaru,” said Thomas Doll, executive vice president and chief operating officer at Subaru of America. “We need to thank our retailers, distributors, our employees and of course the dedication and commitment of (our parent) Fuji Heavy Industries staff for making these results possible.”

An earthquake and tsunami hit Japan on March 11, 2011 — resulting in a shortage of some parts which hampered production for Subaru and other automakers through September.

December sales rose more than 25 percent, to 33,701. That helped the company reach its record high sales mark and eclipsed the previous best of August 2009 — the “Cash for Clunkers” month.

“We are pleased to welcome the 266,989 customers to the Subaru family,” said Bill Cyphers, senior vice president of sales with Subaru of America. “With production now catching up to demand, our December sales show the potential for the Subaru brand for 2012.”

Among vehicles produced at the Subaru of Indiana Automotive Inc. plant in Lafayette:

• Sales of the Outback models registered 13,430 in December and 104,405 for the full year — besting 2010 by 12.1 percent.

• Sales of the Legacy line totaled 4,625 last month and rose by 9.5 percent to 42,401 during the entire year.

• Although much smaller in number, sales of the Tribeca reached 324 in December and rose by 12.9 percent to 2,791 units for all of 2011.

Subaru vehicles built in Japan also reflected a healthy sales chart in December. But not for the entire year.

Sales of the Forester fell by 10.4 percent, to 76,196 in 2011, while sales of the Impreza models dropped by 7.2 percent, to 41,196 units.

FHI authorized an increase in Subaru vehicle manufacturing in the second half of the past year and the company is now producing more cars per month than at any time in its history.

This year’s “Share the Love” event to take place in dealerships and on Facebook –* Subaru to donate $250 for every new Subaru vehicle sold or leased between November 19 and January 3; up to $5 million in total support –* Carmaker will also contribute up to $250,000 to designated charities via Facebook community votes –* Subaru has donated nearly $15 million to charitable causes since program inception

Subaru will donate $250 for every new Subaru vehicle sold or leased from November 19, 2011 through January 3, 2012 to one of the following five charities: American Forests, the ASPCA®, Make-A-Wish Foundation®, Meals On Wheels Association of America and Special Olympics.

Subaru also is inviting the Facebook community to allocate up to $250,000 in additional support to the five charities. Facebook users can participate by visiting the “Share the Love Charities” tab on the Subaru of America Facebook page. Within the tab, users are able to select one of the five charities participating in the event and submit their vote for that charity to receive a $1 donation from Subaru. Upon submitting their vote, participants may share the experience with friends and view what percentage of votes their charity has received.

“Share the Love is rooted in our commitment to our customers and the causes they care about the most,” said Alan Bethke, director, marketing communications, Subaru of America. “We are pleased to continue the program for a fourth year and are excited about the expansion to the Facebook community.”

2011 “Share the Love” Charitable BeneficiariesFacebook community voters and consumers who purchase or lease a new Subaru vehicle during this year’s event can designate donations to any of the following organizations:

American Forests: restores and protects rural and urban forests worldwide. It is the oldest national conservation nonprofit in the country and the only one focused exclusively on forests.

The ASPCA® (The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals®): works to rescue animals from abuse, pass humane laws and share resources with shelters across the country.

Make-A-Wish Foundation: grants the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions. It has granted more than 212,000 wishes in the United States since 1980.

Meals On Wheels Association of America: provides national leadership to end senior hunger, offering home-delivered-meal services to people in need.

Special Olympics: provides year-round sports and athletic competition in a variety of Olympic-type sports for children and adults with intellectual disabilities.

American Forests”We’re honored to be part of the Subaru ‘Share the Love’ event,” says Scott Steen, CEO of American Forests. “Forests are not only beautiful, they are also critical for the health of the planet. Subaru customers who care about the environment can offset their vehicle’s lifetime carbon emissions when they choose to support American Forests. For every $250 donation, we will plant 200 trees in restoration projects across the country.”

The ASPCA®”Thanks to programs like this, the ASPCA is able to step in and provide assistance to animal welfare groups across the country when they are in need,” Elysia Howard, ASPCA vice president of Marketing & Licensing. “The holiday season already is a very heartwarming time, but we are truly touched by the generosity of the Subaru customers who’ve helped us continue the life-saving work we do each day.”

Make-A-Wish Foundation®”The Make-A-Wish Foundation is thrilled to be one of the benefitting charities and we are once again looking to our remarkable supporters to help us with this voting campaign,” said David A. Williams, president and chief executive officer of the Make-A-Wish Foundation of America. “A wish come true helps children feel stronger, more energetic, more willing and able to battle their life-threatening medical conditions. The ‘Share the Love’ event offers a wonderful way for Subaru and our dedicated supporters to help us achieve our vision to grant every eligible child a wish.”

Meals On Wheels Association of America”We are honored to be selected as one of the ‘Share The Love’ charities for the fourth year in a row. Subaru is a corporate partner that truly understands why ending senior hunger is not only a mission but also a moral imperative for all of us as Americans.” -Enid Borden, President and CEO of Meals On Wheels Association of America.

Special Olympics”We are honored that Subaru of America, Inc. selected Special Olympics to participate in this year’s ‘Share the Love’ event,” said Bob Gobrecht, President & Managing Director, Special Olympics North America. “The ‘Share the Love’ event will help provide our athletes with the continued opportunity to develop their skills on and off the playing field, as they demonstrate courage, joy and foster a community of acceptance for all people.”

Find Subaru at facebook.com/subaruofamerica or twitter.com/Subaru_usa.

Subaru, which sold a record 264,000 vehicles in the United States last year, aims to boost North American sales 24 percent to 380,000 units in the next five years under a new mid-term business plan that focuses on the United States and China.

The brand sees sales rising 37 percent to 900,000 units globally by the fiscal year ending 2016, from 657,000 units in this fiscal, parent company Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. said today while announcing its “Motion-V” mid-term plan.

The five-year plans calls for Subaru to improve the fuel efficiency of its lineup by 30 percent as it introduces four new vehicles, including its first gasoline-electric hybrid in 2013.

New models, cost cuts

One of the new models, scheduled to arrive next year, will be the rear-wheel-drive sporty car developed jointly with Toyota.

The Subaru plan targets a 20 percent reduction in costs when developing new cars.

Subaru wants global sales to more than double, to 1 million vehicles in the next 10 years.In addition to increasing North American sales 24 percent in the next five years, Subaru aims nearly to triple business in China, the world’s largest auto market, to 180,000 units, in that time.

Like many Japanese carmakers, Fuji Heavy is bracing for falling profits this year because of the March 11 earthquake in Japan that hammered the supply chain and interrupted production.

Still, as part of its five-year plan, Subaru is targeting an expansion in operating profits of $1.50 billion, with an operating profit margin of 6 percent.

During that period, Fuji Heavy said it plans to spend $3.12 billion) on r&d and invest $4.12 billion in capital improvements.To expand sales in fast growing markets, Fuji Heavy said it will begin production in China and start kit assembly of its vehicles in Malaysia to break into the ASEAN free trade zone.

With six months of sales results in the book, and the effects of a parts shortage in Japan behind them, the second half of 2011 will bring increased production and additional hiring to Subaru of Indiana Automotive Inc. in Lafayette.

“During the first six months of the calendar year we built about 115,000 (Subaru and Toyota) units,” said Tom Easterday, executive vice president at Subaru of Indiana Automotive Inc. in Lafayette. “That’s less than what we originally forecast, because of the parts shortage. We really needed to be running overtime.”

A March 11 earthquake and tsunami in Japan disrupted parts production and exporting from that country. It also impacted sales results for some vehicles, including Subaru models and the Toyota Camry which are built at SIA.

With the parts problem solved, SIA is planning to ramp up production soon by returning to daily and Saturday overtime hours for some associates at the Lafayette plant where the workforce numbers approximately 3,550.

“We’ll have about 150 new people added by mid-July to the end of August,” although a breakdown of additional Subaru and Toyota associates hasn’t been made, Easterday said. “We’ll also have a Subaru line speed increase in the first week of September and a model launch of the 2012 Camry in the first part of September.”

A report released Friday by Subaru of America Inc. shows the company sold 19,794 vehicles last month. That’s 8 percent fewer than were sold June of last year.

“Customer demand hasn’t let up and our dealers did a terrific job selling cars as soon as they arrived at their stores,” said Bill Cyphers, senior vice president for sales at Subaru of America. “We continue to outperform our initial expectations for this period thanks to more production arriving than we first anticipated and better efficiency in getting our cars to dealers and out to customers.”

Among vehicles built at SIA, June results showed:

• Sales of the Legacy increased by 15 percent, to 3,471 units.

• Sales of the Outback rose by 21 percent, to 7,914 units.

• Sales of the Tribeca gained 3 percent, to 180 units.

Among the company’s Japanese-made models, sales of the Forester fell by 28 percent, to 5,466 units; while sales of the Impreza line dropped by 35 percent, to 2,763 units.

Through the first six month of 2011, Subaru sales totaled 132,049 — an increase of 5 percent over the January-June period of last year.

Six-month sales figures for vehicles built at SIA show customer acceptance of the Outback grew by 25 percent, to 51,239 units, while the Legacy posted a 12 percent increase, to 21,284 units; and the Tribeca lost 3 percent, to 1,274.

“We still have record demand for our product in dealerships, however we are still working through a low inventory period after the March earthquake and tsunami in Japan,” said Thomas Doll, executive vice president and chief operating officer at Subaru of America.

“Our dealers managed to be incredibly efficient with the inventory available and the situation is improving all the time. We expect 2011 will still be the second best year ever for Subaru in the U.S.”

April 2011 sales total was 24762, up 6.74% over April 2010 and the best April ever. This is especially strong considering the factory shutdowns impacted the supply of Japanese built cars arriving at dealers, though the full effect of that won’t really be noticed until May and afterwards as the supply drops.The Outback was up by a healthy 23%. Impreza sales were up 20%.

Subaru of America, Inc. today announced continued record-breaking sales for February, up almost 20% compared to the previous year.

February sales records were set by Forester, Impreza, Legacy and Outback. Impreza WRX volume more than doubled compared to the prior year and helped lead the Impreza carline to an impressive 40% increase.

Feb ’11

Feb ’10

% chg

Forester

6,334

6,315

0.3%

Impreza

3,933

2,804

40.3%

Legacy

3,242

2,615

24%

Outback

7,951

6,189

28.5%

Tribeca

223

175

27.4%

21,683

18,098

19.8%

“This is by far the best start to a year we’ve ever had,” said Timothy M. Colbeck, senior vice president of sales, Subaru of America, Inc. “We have been working to get more units to our dealers, but every time we think they will build some inventory, they increase sales instead. With the exception of the Cash for Clunkers comparison in August, this is our 12th consecutive record month.

2010 was a year for rebuilding sales for much of the U.S. auto market, and Subaru managed to set a record year by selling 263,820 vehicles, a 21.8-percent increase over 2009. The volume alone is a record for the five-model automaker, with the Outback leading the charge at 93,148 sold for the year. On its coattails is the Forester at 85,080 units; the Impreza and Legacy trail at 44,395 and 38,725 vehicles, respectively.

December proved to be especially profitable, with the final 31 days of 2010 marking the 10th consecutive month of 20,000-plus monthly sales and a volume record. Subaru sold 26,694 total SUVs, sedans, andhatchbacks in the month, a 15.7-percent gain over December 2009.

Subaru sales have grown 50 percent over the past two years, despite the market’s deflation.

Now, the challenge is in sustaining and boosting sales, and we doubt Subaru is content to let its product languish on their lots.